ESPN is also reporting O’Brien could be a top target for the Eagles if they decide to let go of Andy Reid.

A few things to keep in mind: O’Brien has said he is planning to remain at Penn State. He also has a major buyout in his contract that will not make luring him away very cost-effective for NFL clubs. But just because you stay you’re saying in one place doesn’t mean you’re going to be less in demand. For years, Penn State fans had the comfort and peace of mind knowing at they had a terrific head football coach who had no desire to leave, and NFL clubs figured that out at some point. With O’Brien, there has always been a desire to be an NFL head coach. Has that dissipated after a year back in the college ranks? He says it has. But the only way to show it will be to continue telling the NFL — and it’s truckloads of money — no thank you.

Penn State lost out on Jake Waters on Thursday, but immediately after word that Ferguson had committed to Houston leaked, coaches from Penn State got Ferguson on the horn. The better part of the last two days was spent securing that deal.

Ferguson will likely compete with Steven Bench for the starting job in the spring.

According to a report that Lions247.com had first, Penn State immediately contacted juco QB Tyler Ferguson after Jake Waters opted to head to Kansas State.

Ferguson is the quarterback at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Ca.,* and he has long been Penn State’s number two target should Waters fall by the wayside.

*My wife is from Kingsburg, Ca., which is only a few-minute drive to Visalia. My old buddy Johnny Estrada also played baseball at College of the Sequoias. Which leads me to this point: I had no idea College of the Sequoias had a football team.

Here’s the catch, though. Ferguson evidently committed to Houston this morning. Then, after Waters announced for Kansas State, Ferguson de-committed. So, it does look like Penn State is going to have a shot to make a pitch here.

That’s the news — and pretty stunning news — out of Iowa Western CC this morning, as Jake Waters, the top junior college quarterback in the nation, chose to attend Kansas State over Penn State.

From what I was hearing, and Waters largely confirmed this during his post-announcement interviews, he was Penn State’s to lose. A lot of the reporters out that way thought Penn State would be the decision, and after Bill O’Brien’s in-home visit on Monday, Waters admitted he was leaning strongly toward coming to Penn State.

But he thought about it more, prayed about it, and got an in-home visit from Kansas State last night that swayed his decision to go with the Wildcats. It sounds like two things really helped solidify the decision:

1.) He said it was going to be nice to have his parents and the rest of his family attending games. The Waters family is from the Midwest. Obviously, it would have been difficult to get to State College every week in the fall.

2.) He said he was certainly looking forward to the chance to play postseason games.

So, there you have it. It’s onto the next juco prospect at quarterback for Penn State, which needs to bring someone in to compete with Steven Bench in the spring. As of now, Bench is the only scholarship quarterback on the roster, and Penn State needs someone to come in there and enroll early so he can get some work in during the spring and so his scholarship won’t count against the 2013 class.

Last night on my Twitter feed, I called Iowa Western CC QB Jake Waters what I called him here on the blog last week: The most important recruit for Penn State since Derrick Williams signed in 2005.

I stand by that statement. Many others didn’t agree. The detractors think the most important recruit since Williams is committed to this class. They think he’s a quarterback, too. But they think it’s Christian Hackenberg, the four-star prospect who is just the type of recruit the NCAA sanctions were meant to turn away from Penn State as punishment for the Freeh Report’s findings.

My deep, dark secret on this issue is that it’s very difficult to argue Hackenberg is the most important recruit in eight years. I don’t know if I can make a convincing one, actually.

I just know that if I were a football coach, if I had a program saddled with sanctions, if I had a team not going to a bowl game for the next three seasons, if I was coming off an unexpected 8-4 season and had all the positive energy around the program that I have right now, I’m not just thinking about how to survive the next three years. I’m thinking about how to shock the world and excel. I’m thinking about how to make this program viable far beyond expectations in 2016.

Despite late interest from Alabama and Texas, it does appear that the Iowa Western CC quarterback’s choice will be either Penn State or Kansas State. Waters visited Kansas State last weekend, but Bill O’Brien paid him a visit Monday.

The Nittany Lions attended their annual postseason banquet on Sunday night, and they handed out a bunch of awards to the players. Michael Mauti won the big one, being named the most valuable player of the 2012 team at the banquet, presented by the State College Quarterback’s Club.

There were nearly 1,000 people packed into the ballroom at the Penn Stater to see the banquet. Mauti is just the fourth linebacker — amazingly — ever to be named the top senior player, joining Shane Conlan, Paul Posluszny and Dan Connor.

Want bone-crunching hits and breathtaking plays? You've come to the wrong place. Want in depth analysis and breaking news on Penn State football and, occasionally, the rest of the sports world? That, we can help you with. Scranton Times-Tribune columnist and Penn State beat writer Donnie Collins promises to check in with all the breaking news and commentary on the Nittany Lions regularly. So drop by often, on game day or any day, to stay in the know.